Football Season Guide

Dinamo Moscow finished last season with some good results and by the end managed to rather comfortably beat the drop in their first season after returning from the second division. Dmitri Khokhlov impressed with the dedication to detail and the endeavour shown after taking over in October and he managed to keep his cool despite some tough moments here and there. Naturally, the Dinamo fans will be expecting their team to be more of a factor at the top end of the table in the season ahead given the status of the Blue and Whites as one of the giants of the game in Russia. But the realities at the moment are that the capital club are nothing more than merely a mid-table club with no major financial muscle these days. Khokhlov knows that well too and he has been able to maximise his resources when needed as a limited squad pulled off some good results in the spring. The manager has pretty much the same group of players at his disposal ahead of the start of the new season as no signings of note have been made so far. However, there has been one major departure as homegrown winger Aleksandr Tashaev, who enjoyed a breakthrough season and even reached the national team, decided to leave on a free transfer and join arch rivals Spartak Moscow. It is a move that makes him a villain to the fans but also deprives the coach of one of his most effective and inventive attacking players. Players like Iva Temnikov and Fedor Chernykh will need to step up to fill the void while the manager will also hope to have Kirill Panchenko back to his best after a serious injury disrupted him last season. Dinamo look the strongest at the back, where Vladimir Rykov and Toni Sunjic have formed great rapport, while Samba Sow and Aziz Tetteh can provide great protection in defensive midfield roles too. Overall, Dinamo have a solid core and, while they will not be too exciting to watch, they have what it takes to enjoy a stress-free and satisfying campaign.